Developing a Centralized Copier Management Program
The administrative report may provide an installation date, and if it does you have everything you need to move forward. If it lacks the date, try tracking the purchase date through departmental procurement records. Or, simply ask the vendor.
Actually, your vendors are an excellent source of the information you need. They may not have purchase price or supply use information, but most service agreements are sold on a per-copy basis, so vendors need to track volume on each machine. Ask the vendor to provide a list of all equipment currently being serviced and average monthly use. Knowing you're working on a centralized copier management project should encourage her/him to provide all of the data you need. We're looking for total volume and length of time the machine has been in place.
Ray Chambers, CGCM, MBA, has invested over 30 years managing and directing printing plants, copy centers, mail centers and award-winning document management facilities in higher education and government.
Most recently, Chambers served as vice president and chief information officer at Juniata College. Chambers is currently a doctoral candidate studying Higher Education Administration at the Pennsylvania State University (PSU). His research interests include outsourcing in higher education and its impact on support services in higher education and managing support services. He also consults (Chambers Management Group) with leaders in both the public and private sectors to help them understand and improve in-plant printing and document services operations.
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